Written by Kelly Miyamoto
Genealogical Information
| Manzo Nagano | Tayoko Nagano Ishii | Tsuruta Uno | Kiyo Uno | ||||
| Terumaro “Frank” Nagano 1899 – ? | Tazuko Nagano Uno 1909 – ? | ||||||
| – | Marie Nagano | Kazue Kay Nagano | Chisato Rose Nagano | Tsuruo Teddy Nagano | Diane Hikaru Nagano | Amy Nagano Mensch | – |
Marie Nagano was born in Ocean Falls, British Columbia, in 1936, to Tazuko and Terumaro “Frank” Nagano. Her mother, Tazuko Ishii, was born to a middle-class family in Tokyo. Her father’s background is less clear due to some missing genealogical information. Originally, it was believed that he was born in Victoria, British Columbia, but now it is confirmed that he was in fact born in Japan, though the exact location and even DOB are unknown. Marie’s mother and father married in Tokyo and immigrated to Canada a few years later in 1934. The Naganos had five children between 1939 and 1949: Marie, Kazue, Chisato (Rose), Tsuruo (Teddy), Hikaru (Diane), and Amy.
Shortly after the attack on Pearl Harbor in December 1941, the Japanese were evacuated from coastal British Columbia. Marie’s father was sent to Schreiber, Ontario, leaving Marie’s mother to take care of their three young girls alone while pregnant with a fourth child.
“My mother was seven months pregnant,” Marie said. “She didn’t want to move, but of course we had to move. So, we were the last family to move from Ocean Falls, and the first place we went to was Hastings Park.” Marie does not remember exactly how her family traveled out of the remote community of Ocean Falls, but assumes it was by bus or boat.
Marie recalls that upon their arrival to Hastings Park, Japanese families were held in the stables where livestock had previously been kept. Each family was assigned to a stall. “They were cleaning out that stable, and it wasn’t quite cleaned out when most of the families went there. My mother said that we were sleeping in a tent for a couple of weeks or so until the other stalls were cleaned out.” Marie says that they did not stay there for too long before being moved again, this time to the internment camp in Rosebery, British Columbia.
In Rosebery, Marie and her family lived in a small hotel. The community around her was predominantly white, and they were the only Japanese family where they lived. Among her neighbours, there was a family from Sweden, a Scotsman who owned apple trees, and an English store owner. Marie recalls her family being a bit isolated from the rest of the Japanese people who lived across the bridge in different parts of Rosebery.
Marie attended Grades 1-3 in Rosebery, and then Grade 4 in New Denver. Her brother and one of her sisters were born during this time. Shortly after her brother was born in May 1942, Marie’s father reunited with the rest of the family. “We all traveled together after from there,” Marie said:
“I was only there in grade four in New Denver, and that’s when we started moving to the different campsites,” Marie said. She remembers going with her mother to bus stops in New Denver and seeing people being evacuated. The Naganos were transferred from New Denver to Transcona, a suburb of Winnipeg, and then Angler, Ontario. The family stayed in Transcona and Angler for only a few months respectively. “This is all in 1946. And then finally from [Angler] we ended up in Farnham, Quebec.”
Farnham Hostel
The Nagano family arrived in Farnham in October 1946, later than the majority of Japanese families. Marie remembers growing up in Farnham. “I was ten years old. We weren’t thinking too much about the war. As long as you had friends to play with, we were happy. And I never thought about being separated or anything like that, but we were in a community just playing with your own friends.”
Upon relocating to Farnham, Marie was required to repeat Grade 4, after being set back a year. She found this experience difficult, especially after being relocated so many times. Marie also recalls thinking that there were some negative feelings among the teaching staff about having Japanese students attend the school. She believes that some of the teachers may even have come up with her siblings’ English names to avoid using their Japanese given names.
Marie notes that the walk to school was long, especially on the coldest winter days, but that having other Japanese families close by made it a more enjoyable experience. “It was a long walk to go from our house all the way to school. But we all lived in one place, so we just all walked together. Must have been at least two miles, but of course you’re always walking with your friends. You’re not walking alone, but it’s a long, long road.”
Like many of the Japanese families relocated to Farnham, Marie and her family lived on the military base where German POWs had been kept: “I don’t remember about the room or anything like that,” she said. “I guess we were all in one room, of course. I think those were where the Germans [were].”
Marie’s father worked at a company where he dyed material used in the production of upholstered furniture. He rode his bike to work as much as he could, as the family did not have a car. Marie’s mother was in charge of raising and caring for the Nagano children. She did work briefly in a nursing home, but had to quit after about six months in order to take care of her husband when he fell ill.
Marie recalls lots of memories from her time in Farnham. Her sister Rose hated the mashed potatoes that were served in the mess hall. Her youngest sister, Amy, was born in Cowansville in 1949. Marie attended high school in Cowansville and took the bus there from Farnham Intermediate School. Down the road from the Nagano home, there was a general store, where Marie and her siblings would buy candy with money given to them by their mother: “At that time, you were able to buy this hard candy. Four black candies for a penny.”
“And, of course, we went to the movies,” Marie said. “My mom and dad went to a movie every week. The two of them, they walked down to the theater.” It cost 60 cents for a ticket then, and 30 cents for kids. Every month the Naganos would pick up the show card to see what was being played at the theater in the coming weeks. Marie’s mother said the kids were allowed to either go to a dance or to a movie once a month, but sometimes exceptions were made. “Because my parents loved movies, especially my mom, if the movie was really good and she thought that we children would like it, she would give us the money to go to the movie as well. So, we always loved movies. That was a great, happy time.”
There were also regular gatherings among the few Japanese Canadian families that remained in Farnham after the clearing-house closed. “Once a month, in different homes, they would have a potluck.” Marie recalls seven couples that took turns hosting, and their families would gather to share food and socialize. “That was really nice for the parents,” Marie said.
The Japanese United Church was also a great source of community for the Nikkei displaced to Farnham. “The minister at the United Church was so, so nice to us,” Marie said. To this day, Marie still corresponds with the minister’s son. Marie’s father was a member of the Japanese United Church, and her mother was a Buddhist, but she encouraged her children to participate. “Mom always said, if you have nothing else to do on Sunday, you’re going to church.”
Marie’s parents remained in the Farnham area after the closure of the hostel. Marie completed nursing school, after which she and a friend moved to Peterborough, Ontario, with the intention of traveling together. Shortly thereafter Marie met her future husband, and was married a year later. Of the Nagano siblings, only Marie’s brother, Tsuruo, lived in Farnham until his death.
Marie has been back to Farnham several times. “Farnham has expanded so much,” she said. “I’ve been there a few times of course because I trained in Sherbrooke and my parents’ cemetery is there.” Marie keeps in touch with all of her surviving family, as well as many of the friends that she made in Farnham. She still lives in Peterborough.